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The Electronic Drug
The Electronic Drug is a digital stimulation program in the series and a central plot device in the HAL arc. It was created by Harukawa Eisuke, and its main use was to control a person's actions and behaviour. Overview Effect The Electronic Drug exists as a visual and audio footage HAL releases online. When viewed, it stimulates the watcher's brain and makes the person determined to commit his greatest desire that would normally not be done due to conscience or fear of the law. The influenced people grow more addicted to watching the drug and they will keep visiting the same website displaying the footage until they fall completely under the control of HAL. The people influenced by the Electronic Drug become very strong and are able to perform extraordinary stunts due to their great desire to do a certain action, and they can easily take more punishment a normal person can. Because of this however, their body is pushed to the limits and would they eventually die due to the extreme amount of pressure exerted on the body. The people influenced by the Electronic Drug become stronger if they are actively listening or watching it, as shown during the time when Higuchi turned on the audio of the Electronic Drug so that the influenced listeners nearby would become faster and stronger. The drug appears to only work on normal people, as it had no effect on Neuro or Sicks. Versions The initial version of the drug works slowly and only causes the influenced people to commit their greatest desires. The viewer has to watch it several times before falling completely under HAL's control. Higuchi later creates an upgraded second version of the drug, which caused immediate reaction to the drug at the cost of its effectiveness. By showing a person the second version of the drug and the first version right after that the person can be completely influenced in less than an hour. Later in the series HAL II's abilities are absorbed by X, who gains a power he calls "HAL's Eye". HAL's Eye is basically the Electronic Drug imprinted in X's eyes, causing people who look at them face to face to fall under the influence of it. As HAL II was an incomplete version of the original HAL, the Electronic Drug he held was incomplete as well. This caused HAL's Eye's version of the drug to be at least ten times weaker than the original drug and its effect would wear off after a while. Cures Higuchi manages to create an initial cure to the drug by hacking into the site with the original drug and causing it to play backwards. This would make the viewers, who constantly visit the site once they become addicted, to gradually get back to their senses. HAL catches on however and reveals this cure was ineffective as he programmed his viewers who watch the reversed version of the drug to reverse it again in their mind, effectively negating the whole purpose of having the whole thing reversed in the first place. Besides this, Higuchi had also made a special type of lens that prevent influence from viewing the drug. He had not perfected it though, and it could only block out 50% of the effects, causing the watcher to fall under half-influence while still retaining some of their personality and memories. After HAL's defeat he reveals a "real" cure for the drug, and after Yako managed to get it screened on public television and the internet all the infleunced returned to normal. As for HAL II's drug it was incomplete, so the drug would wear off after a while or if the person is electrocuted. Role in the Plot Harukawa had created the Electronic Drug along with HAL to recreate his deceased lover, Honjou Setsuna. He had planned to test the drug on two people, Homura Tetsuyuki and an unnamed boxer, but HAL had different intentions in mind and used it on a bigger scale, influencing the citizens (in the anime most of the previous criminals were victims of the drug). After Harukawa's death, HAL uses the Electronic Drug on the community of the country in order to gain guardians to protect him from Neuro. Along the way, he finds Higuchi Yuuya interfering in his plans, and upon realising his potential, exposes the drug on Higuchi, who helps create the second version of the drug. After HAL's defeat, he gives Yako the cure for the drug, and it is used to return the influenced people back to normal. Later in the series HAL II surfaces and his abilities are absorbed by X. X gains a weaker version of the drug that he dubs as "HAL's Eye" and uses it on his follower, Leech to enhance his capabilities. X also uses it on Yako some time afterwards, and makes her fight Neuro with him. The Electronic Drug is not used for anything major after this, though Higuchi humorously uses it on his strict boss so that he could lighten up, though Usui punishes severely punishes Higuchi later by forcing him to watch educational videos until his memories on how to make the drug were erased.